GM Says Two Top Executives to Leave the Company
General Motors elevated Gerald Johnson to the post of executive vice president, global manufacturing, where he will also lead labor relations
General Motors Co. GM -1.30% announced Thursday the pending departures of two executives who report directly to Chief Executive Mary Barra, the latest in a series of executive shifts at the Detroit car maker.
Alicia Boler Davis, GM’s head of global manufacturing, is leaving to take a position at Amazon.com Inc., AMZN -0.08% according to people familiar with the matter. Ms. Boler Davis couldn’t be reached for comment and her future position at the retailing giant couldn’t be learned. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment.
Ms. Boler Davis, 49, has been a rising star and one of Ms. Barra’s most trusted lieutenants, having also run the auto maker’s connected-car and quality divisions. She has led manufacturing for nearly three years.
GM’s head of North American business, Alan Batey, 56, will also retire after leading the auto maker’s most-profitable region for the past five years. A 40-year veteran at GM, Mr. Batey also ran the company’s mainstream Chevrolet brand.
Strong truck and SUV sales in GM’s home market has fueled the lion’s share of GM’s profits in recent years as the company slimmed down its global presence, including the 2017 sale of its European business.
The moves mark a continued shuffling in GM’s executive ranks, following a period of relatively little change on Ms. Barra’s team during her five-year tenure. The company recently embarked on a massive restructuring effort to slim down its North American operations, including closing five plants in the region and eliminating thousands of salaried positions.
GM manufacturing veteran Gerald Johnson, 56, now head of North American manufacturing and labor relations, will succeed Ms. Boler Davis as global manufacturing chief. Mr. Batey will be succeeded by Barry Engle, 55, who is now president of GM’s international operation, which includes its sizable China business. The changes take effect April 1.
GM’s former president, Dan Ammann, left Detroit for San Francisco in January to take over Cruise, GM’s autonomous-driving unit. GM last year appointed Dhivya Suryadevara as its new finance chief, replacing Chuck Stevens, who retired.
A company spokesman said the recent moves are a natural evolution of Ms. Barra’s leadership team, rather than a strategic reshuffling.
Still, the nation’s No. 1 auto maker by sales is revamping its workforce to adapt to technological forces disrupting the car business, including self-driving and electric vehicles and a proliferation of relatively new mobility options, from ride hailing to electric scooters.
For example, GM has made heavy cuts to its engineering ranks in its powertrain division, which develops gas engines and transmissions, reflecting the company’s shift in focus to battery-powered cars.
Those layoffs were included as part of GM’s 15% reduction to its North American salaried workforce announced in November, or about 8,000 employees. The company said it would cut about 25% of its executive ranks in the region as part of that restructuring.
“We’re in the middle of a transformation that is only accelerating,” Ms. Barra said during an investor presentation in January.
Write to Mike Colias at Mike.Colias@wsj.com